About Me

When not nosing, tasting, drinking and reading about malt whisky, I own one of Israel's premiere boutique coaching practices, specializing in small businesses and executive teams.
Trained in the law, I was an international law attorney and took part in Israel's peace negotiations with the Palestinians, as well as representing my country at the UN for parts of the negotiations on the implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Later I was appointed to the military bench.
My favorite thing, other than whisky, is teaching.
You can contact me through the social media buttons above or by email: michael(at)maltandoak.com, replacing the (at) with an @.

Statement of Integrity and Guidelines

Malt and Oak is an independent whisky blog, offering my own views, opinions and news from the world of malt whisky.
These are my guidelines:

1. All whisky reviews published are of whiskies I have personally tasted and noted. Guest bloggers only write about their own personal tastings.

2. With the exception of official whisky samples, I accept no consideration whatsoever from any distillery, bottler, distributor, drink company or store for my opinions.

3. I maintain strict impartiality and objectivity in tasting all whiskies, not least when tasting official samples. Any review of official whisky samples sent to me will be so noted in the post.

4. I will accept invitations to tastings, events and official visits, and full disclosure will be made on any tasting notes and articles resulting from these events or visits.

5. Any sample received over 30 ml in volume is shared with fellow whisky bloggers. In any event, no sample larger than 100 ml will be accepted.

6. No advertisements promoting specific brands will be accepted.

7. I will answer any inquiry by my readers as quickly and as fully as possible.

8. Should I give a link purchase the reviewed whisky, it will be given free of any commercial interest. The link given will always point to cheapest selling price I found on the web. No commission is paid, nor any other consideration given, for such link.

9. As of July 2017, I serve as Douglas Laing’s Israel brand ambassasdor. As such, I will obviously not be posting reviews of Douglas Laing products.

Big Peat Christmas 2015 Edition – The Cask Strength Peat Monster….

I visited Douglas Laing in Glasgow the other week. I will have a full report of the most enjoyable visit, but for today I wanted to review the Christmas edition of Big Peat, out every year for the holidays at Cask Strength. This year there were two important developments, both of which were mentioned on this blog, and yet they merit mention: First is the creation of the Remarkable Regional Malts range to incorporate the four regional malts – Big Peat, Scallywag, Timorous Beastie and Rock Oyster; the second is the addition, during 2015, of a cask strength Scallywag (reviewed here), joining the Big Peat Christmas edition in the range of limited editions, a trend I expect will be extended to other whiskies in the range.

Photo Credit: douglaslaing.com

The regular edition has become a mainstay for peat lovers (reviewed here), made of a vatting of Ardbeg, Caol Ila and Bowmore, with some Port Ellen in the blend. Incidentally, I asked Jan Beckers during my visit how many Port Ellen casks he estimates to be still in existence around the world. Obviously I didn’t get a number (and I wasn’t expecting one), but he did seem to think that it’s not going to be running out too quickly.

Either way, Big Peat is here to stay, and it’s time to dive into this year’s Christmas Edition:

Photo Credit: scotchmaltwhisky.co.uk

Douglas Laing Big Peat Christmas Edition 2015 (53.8% ABV, NCF, NC)

Nose: A fresh, almost “green” peat, pine needles and freshly cut pine wood, the nose very much suggests a carpenter’s workshop. The green leaves and fresh vegetation come back after the addition of a few drops of water, with fresh ground pepper and brine.

Palate: Sweet, somewhat lemony and peaty with ash, vanilla like sweetness on the palate with a numbing sensation on the back of the roof of the mouth. Slightly drying with spice becoming dominant alongside the peat.

Linger: Very sweet with bitter citrus peel notes, the peat settles in the back of the throat, and the mouth remains ashy and somewhat salty with a tingle on the inside of the cheeks. The finish is long, and that numbing sensation takes a while to abate.

Conclusion

This edition of the Christmas Edition highlights somewhat of a different side of the Big Peat formula. There’s something soft in it, like sitting by the fire in a new log cabin, with the pine resin still faintly noticeable. This is by no means old, but it’s very well put together with a really nice finish.